Fire and Flight: A Legacy Hidden
by DragonSeer
Summary: Raziel and his brothers as children were known to be mischievous, but what happens when they find a race of creatures no one knew existed? Well, he DID get himself into this situation... (new chappy)
1. An Adventure!

Raziel's head popped around the door, looking in. Kain stood, addressing another vampire and seemed focused intently on it. Raziel's head disappeared a moment, then he crept by the door, followed quickly by Dumah, Turel, Rahab, and Zephon. Melchiah, who had annoyed his brothers by incessantly chanting, "Are we going yet? Are we going yet?" for ten minutes straight, was safely gagged and in a bag over Dumah's shoulder. Once they got passed the open door, they stayed quiet for about thirty paces more (which seemed like an eternity to Zephon and Rahab—and Melchiah, who was in the bag) before they took off running. Raziel stopped when they got outside the building, then turned and continued running toward the mountains. His brothers followed him. They had wanted an adventure, but had decided it was better to avoid the remaining vampire hunters. But an adventure wasn't one without some danger, so they headed up the mountains to the heights that no one ever came down from again. Before long, the brothers were panting and Zephon got Raziel's attention.  
  
"Raz," Zephon called. "Let's stop and rest for a bit."  
  
Raziel turned back to his younger brothers and nodded. Dumah set his burden down and opened the bag. Melchiah's head popped out.  
  
"Are we going yet?" he demanded.  
  
"Yes!" all five brothers growled in response.  
  
"Yay!" The smallest brother, being the equivalent of five, climbed out of the bag and wobbled over to Turel. Turel nearly fell over as his clan symbol over his right arm was dragged down. He sighed heavily as Melchiah sat on his shoulders. Raziel looked at his brothers. It had taken some convincing to get each of them out there. There was Dumah who was the combatant, the fighter of the group, who craved to be first and to take over Kain's empire. Then there was Turel, who was the "lady's man," as the few they knew were completely smitten with him. Rahab was the jock and was the only vampire to show a growing resistance to water. He was the captain of the swim team. And its only member. His motto was, "Give it 110%!" Which he said. A lot. In fact, he said it so often he drove his brothers crazy.  
  
Of course there was Zephon, the conniver, the prankster. When they got in trouble for setting traps, he was usually at the heart of it. He was always working on some explosive or another, and hit from a distance. And then there was Melchiah, the youngest of the group. He fit the typical place of the youngest: the whiner, for lack of a better term. True, the group was always picking on him, but he was so much fun to pick on.  
  
"Come on!" Rahab shouted. "Let's get going!"  
  
"Go bite a pig, Rahab," Zephon snarled between pants. "We need to rest a bit."  
  
"Come on! Give it 110%!"  
  
"ERR!" Dumah stood and glared down at his younger sibling. "If you say that one more time I'll—"  
  
He was interrupted by the sound of lightning crackling as a single line of green electricity hit the ground fifteen feet away from them and sizzled as it continued to exist where it shouldn't have. It looked almost like a rip in space and time. A large form appeared and dropped to the ground. The creature could only be called a demon and it turned solid yellow eyes with black slits on them. The hide of the demon was a thick green and on each of its forearms from wrist to elbow was a plate that looked like a mixture of a weapon and a shield. It gave an ethereal rumble of a growl that sounded like the hissed words, "Come, vampires." It stepped toward them menacingly as the brothers drew together and prepared for battle.  
  
"Pillar's Sacrifice!" a male voice shouted. A man dropped lightly to the ground before them. He looked mature, maybe in his mid-twenties, and his hair was silver. Not white-gray, or silverish-gray, but metallic silver. They all knew immediately he was not human or vampire on account of the pair of large bat-like wings coming out of his back and a tail that lashed violently. Both were the same silver coloration of his hair. He stood between the vampire children and the demon with a two-handed sword held to attack position. The demon growled again, and the name voiced was not pronounceable in the common tongue.  
  
The man lunged forward, attacking in a blurry of movement that caught both the demon and the children off-guard. The demon brought the two plates together as a sort of shield, but the silver-haired man's blade easily cut through its tough hide. He attacked with a ferocity that rivaled a vampire in bloodlust. He slashed upward, cutting through the last of the demon's guard, then jammed the sword through its heart. The demon made a growl/roar in protest as it felt its life ebbing. The demon sank to the ground and the silver-haired man let it sit there for a long moment before he drew the blade out of the body. He turned to gaze at the vampire children. His eyes were silver except for a black slit. He looked down at them contemplatively. In spite of themselves, they backed up a step. They were the first sons of Kain, more powerful than any mortal, yet they knew that the being who stood before them was no mortal and could kill them with a flick of his wrist.  
  
"What are you going to do to us?" Raziel finally asked.  
  
"Hmm . . . I'm still trying to figure that out myself." After a long moment, he sighed. "Come with me. I'll ask the Empress what to do with you."  
  
"The . . . who?"  
  
"The Empress," he responded patiently. "She's the ruler of our people."  
  
"And who are you people?" Zephon spoke up. The silver-haired man shot him a grin filled with sharp teeth. He turned and began to walk up into the mountains. After a long while, they came to a dead end in the path. He calmly placed a human-shaped hand with long claws on the rock face. The rock rumbled and morphed and melted away to reveal a long tunnel.  
  
"My name is Ker'orin." He led them deeply into the rock, and after a labored climb, the tunnel suddenly opened to a huge city in the very rock of the top of the largest mountain. The city residents could see the sky and the land around the mountain, but no one from below could see it.  
  
"Welcome to Tâlaeth, vampire children."  
  
The brothers stared wide-eyed with awe at the city and its residents. They were all the same as the silver-haired man except for varying ages, genders, and colors. Some were at what was undoubtedly a market, others were flying in the sky above. Raziel eyed them enviously. The beings were all different sorts of colors: blood red, amethyst purple, ocean blue, metallic gold, and many others. They gazed curiously at the children, but when they saw they were with Ker'orin, they shrugged and turned away. Ker'orin led them to the other end of the city where there was a cathedral- like structure. Both doors were wide open, allowing any and all in. He continued in and met a tall woman who was walking out to meet him. She had lightning colored hair, the palest of white-yellows with an electric blue tint, and her bangs were ebony black. He greeted her in a hissing language that the brothers could not understand.  
  
"Do you know what's going on?" Melchiah whispered softly into Turel's ear from where he was sitting on his shoulders.  
  
"Not a clue."  
  
"Shaté, mas Turias," Ker'orin greeted her. Greetings, my Empress.  
  
Why have you brought the vampire children here and where is your partner? The Empress' voice, though female, was rumbling and demanded the eyes and respect of all who looked upon her.  
  
My partner wanted to sleep in, so I allowed it. The twit was up late last night, and it was only a routine patrol. These children were apparently running around and a demon attacked them. I saved them and brought them here. I don't know whose they are, and even if they don't remember the Treaty, we do. And these children look like they could be His. They are old enough.  
  
The Empress turned silver-gray with black slit eyes on the brothers and was silent for a long moment.  
  
Hm. Perhaps. Have someone baby-sit them while I find out.  
  
Who?  
  
The Empress smiled maliciously. Your partner.  
  
Ker'orin returned the smile and indicated to the vampires to follow him. He led them down long halls and finally stopped at a door and ushered them in. The room was an antechamber and had several more rooms attached to it. It looked like the place of a noble. He went to one of the doors and knocked on it, then stuck his head in.  
  
"Hey! Wake up! You have guests."  
  
A muffled voice grumbled from inside the room. The brothers couldn't tell if it was male or female.  
  
"Come on," Ker'orin continued. "You're baby-sitting."  
  
"What?!"  
  
Ker'orin had already turned and gone out the door, shutting the antechamber door behind him and locking the vampires with whatever horrible fate awaited them. They turned back as they heard someone moving in the other room.  
  
"Ker'orin!" the voice shouted. The door opened and a young woman stepped out, looking more than mildly annoyed. Her hair was ebony black except for her bangs which were a sapphire blue. Her wings and tail matched her eyes, a deep amethyst. She wore only a short silk nightgown which clung to her body like a second skin. Turel's eyes widened and his mouth dropped. She looked a few years older than Raziel. She sighed when she saw them.  
  
"What am I supposed to do with you six?"  
  
"I know what you can do with me," Turel told her. Her expression twisted into a mixture of an annoyed frown and an amused smile.  
  
"Scratch that," she returned. "What do I do with the five of you? I know what to do with the sixth."  
  
"Really?" Turel looked hopeful.  
  
"Really," she responded. She moved over to him while swinging her hips, stopped in front of him and bent down so her face was inches away from his and level. Her hand rose to his shoulder and crept around as he leaned toward her. Her hand took a firm grip of the metal design across his chest and back which held his clan symbol over his arm and tossed him into the closet. She turned back to the rest.  
  
"I always encourage people to give 110%," Rahab began, "but man! That guy gives 180!"  
  
She blinked at him for a long moment, then he went into the closet. She turned back again.  
  
"Then there were four . . ."  
  
"Oh, don't worry," Zephon told her. "Go back to sleep. We'll be good."  
  
She raised a skeptical eyebrow.  
  
"Really! We'll play cards." He began to shuffle and deal out cards. She sighed happily as she laid back on her bed. Her head hit the pillow with an explosion as several water balloons burst. Zephon began snickering. She calmly stood and let her aura become a raging inferno of physical fire surrounding her form. The vampires stared at her in surprise. She turned inhuman eyes of fire on Zephon who squeaked in fear and hide in a ball in the corner. The fire around her died as she saw the youngest was about to start crying in fear. She grabbed some old toys of hers and held them out to him. They looked like streamlined lizards with large bat-like wings. Melchiah stared at them for a long moment before shouting, "Cool!" He grabbed them and started playing with them. She turned to the two eldest.  
  
"And then there were two . . ."  
  
The two returned to playing cards and she settled down to watch them. After a while, Dumah stood.  
  
"That's enough!" Dumah growled. "I'm sick of your cheating!"  
  
He started toward Raziel swinging. Raziel pulled his head back and backed up slowly. He reached up, caught Dumah's fist, and fell back onto his back. His foot went up to Dumah's chest and Raziel flipped him over onto his back. Raziel was back up in an instant. Dumah took a moment longer to get up, but moved smoothly forward to punch him. Fed up, the young woman stood and caught his fist easily. Dumah was shocked. No woman should have been able to stop him.  
  
The young woman, on the other claw, was immensely surprised at his strength, even for a vampire. She flexed the muscles in her arm and shoved him back. He wobbled and fell over. He was up again in an instant, outraged she had done such a thing. He launched forward trying to punch her, and probably would have succeeded had it not been for the fact she was expecting such a response. In retaliation to his attack, she twirled and kicked out with her foot, hitting him squarely in the chest and sending him smashing into the wall. To the surprised of the on-lookers, he didn't go through the wall, but there was a Dumah-shaped impression around him. She turned to the eldest.  
  
"Then there was one."  
  
"Don't worry about me," he told her. "I'm a lot more civilized than they are."  
  
She snorted in a mixture of annoyance and amusement.  
  
"Yes, you seem to be the most mature of the lot." She sighed deeply.  
  
"I suppose now would be a good time for introductions," he continued. "This is Melchiah," he said as he ran a three-clawed hand over the littlest one's head. He looked up at her, said hello, then went back to playing with the toys.  
  
"The one in the wall is Dumah. The one over there in the corner is Zephon. The two in the closet . . ." He paused. "The one who was talking about percents was Rahab and the one who was hitting on you is Turel. I am Raziel."  
  
"Pleasure," she murmured.  
  
"And you are?"  
  
"I am Shay'Telnira."  
  
"Ah." After a moment, "Anything shorter?"  
  
She smiled. "Shay." 


	2. Annoying Vamplings!

"Pleasure to meet you, Shay—"  
  
He was interrupted by the sound of scratching and of breaking wood. They both looked to see two pairs of clawed hands digging at the bottom of the closet door. Shay'Telnira grinned.  
  
"This ought to be interesting. The door will reshape in a moment."  
  
The two continued to watch as there was a sudden magical sound and the wood of the door flowed like water and smoothed over the damaged section, solidifying into a whole door, eradicating in seconds what it had taken the two brothers five minutes to do. There was a resounding curse and silence for a moment. Then Turel began clawing at the center of the door to get through it.  
  
"Give it 110%!" Rahab told him. The scratching stopped, and they heard Turel take in a big breath, then let it out very slowly. Then the scratching started again.  
  
"Turel?"  
  
"Shut. Up."  
  
"Turel?"  
  
"Shut-up!"  
  
1 "TUR—"  
  
"SHUT-UP!!"  
  
"Okay." Rahab fell silent. After long moments of Turel scratching at the door, he finally got a hole big enough to crawl through. Rahab followed him and the door repaired itself.  
  
"Wow," Rahab commented. "You made it out all without the help of this." He held up a hatchet. Turel stared at him blankly.  
  
"Oh! I forgot I had that in there." Shay'Telnira stepped forward and pulled it out of Rahab's hands, which he relinquished unwillingly.  
  
" . . . You had that the entire time?" Turel asked slowly.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"And you didn't tell me?!"  
  
"I tried! You told me to shut-up!"  
  
Turel continued to look at him blankly, then his expression twisted.  
  
"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!!!"  
  
Turel began to chase Rahab around in a fight that Shay'Telnira realized was going to end in Rahab's death if Turel got a hold of him. She caught both of them.  
  
"I'm going to subject both of you to the worst torture for vampires if you don't stop trying to kill each other right now!"  
  
"Oh?" Turel challenged. "What are you going to do?!"  
  
Without giving him an answer, she turned and went into another room. In the room was an open-top aquarium and a burning cauldron. She held Rahab over the fire and Turel over the water. Both vampires squeaked in fear.  
  
"Can't we do this the other way around?" Rahab pleaded.  
  
"Hey!" came the angry yell from Turel.  
  
"No," she replied calmly.  
  
"Why not?!"  
  
"Because you want me to," was the response. "Now, are you two going to behave?" Both brothers were clinging to her hands like drowning sailors to a rope.  
  
"Yeah! Yeah! We'll be good! We'll be good!"  
  
"All right," she murmured, pulling them away. "Good boys." She walked back into the main room and set the two down.  
  
"Now be good."  
  
"All right! All right!"  
  
She settled down in a chair with the brothers across from her. They stared uneasily at her. She stared right back. Abruptly, there was a knock at the door.  
  
"Come," she called. To the surprise of the brothers, her voice had adopted a sort of regal tone and she sat up straighter. When Ker'orin poked his head in, she visibly relaxed.  
  
"Hello, Orin. What can I do for you?"  
  
"The Empress wants you. And bring the vampire children with you." His head disappeared as Shay'Telnira sighed and stood.  
  
"Come with me." Her tone left no room for arguments. She led them down the halls that they had come down before, then took a sudden turn and headed into the depths of the cathedral. She came to a huge chamber with a large ornate throne on the opposite end. The brothers again saw the woman with lightning-colored hair they had seen on the way in. In front of her, floating above her lap and eye level, was a large crystal which she gazed intently at. Shay'Telnira inclined her head.  
  
"You summoned me?"  
  
The Empress broke her gaze of the crystal and looked at Shay'Telnira.  
  
"Yes. These children are Kain's brood who apparently wanted an adventure and sneaked out for one. I need you to take them home."  
  
"Why me?" Shay'Telnira demanded. "Why not one of the others?"  
  
The Empress' eyes narrowed. "You will do it, Shay'Telnira."  
  
Shay'Telnira gulped. "Of . . . of course." She turned to the brothers. "Come along."  
  
They followed quietly behind her as she walked out of the chamber and out into the city. Raziel drew up next to her.  
  
"What do you plan to do?"  
  
"Hmm?" She shook her head to bring herself to the present and looked at him. "What do you mean, 'What do I plan to do'?"  
  
"Well, she gave you an order. Are you going to follow it?"  
  
Shay'Telnira looked back at the fortress and shivered slightly.  
  
"Yes. Yes, this order I'll obey."  
  
She suddenly noticed Turel was snickering behind her.  
  
"What?!" she demanded, turning to him. Laughing openly now, he pointed at her body. She looked down and to find she was still wearing the silk nightgown. She sighed deeply and paused in thought. On one claw, she could go back and change. On the other, she didn't want to spend the time going back. Plus, if she showed it bothered her, she knew Turel would never let her forget it. She tipped her head up and continued walking. Turel shrugged and continued after her. He certainly wasn't complaining.  
  
She led down the tunnel, then down the twists and turns of the path. They passed the flat dais where they had first met the demon and Ker'orin. Melchiah walked next to her, telling her all about the encounter. When Turel growled at him to shut up, Shay'Telnira fixed him with a piercing gaze and said in a tone of voice that bode no good will for those who argued that Melchiah was free to talk about what he wanted. She gladly listened to the little one rant.  
  
The group finally reached the Sanctuary of the Clans when he finished his tale.  
  
"There you are!" a voice shouted. Raziel looked up.  
  
"Hey! It's Kain!"  
  
Five smaller shapes shot by him as his brothers launched themselves onto the master vampire. He hugged them, then set them down and looked at them.  
  
"Now, what happened?" Kain asked slowly.  
  
"It's her fault!" Zephon told him, pointing to Shay'Telnira.  
  
"What?!" she demanded.  
  
"It was. It was all her fault."  
  
Kain's eyebrow raised and he looked at Dumah who nodded. Then it went to Rahab who looked like he was about to shake his head when he saw Dumah's angry glare and nodded hastily. Kain's gaze went to Melchiah only to see him still playing with the toys. He moved onto Turel who nodded as well, then finally to Raziel who shook his head. Kain sighed.  
  
"All right. What actually happened?"  
  
"Daddy's boy!" Dumah shouted.  
  
"It was his idea," Raziel told Kain, pointing to Dumah.  
  
"HEY! Traitor!"  
  
"Oh! So you're admitting it?"  
  
"Arrgghhh!!" Dumah pounced on Raziel and the two started wrestling. Kain sighed deeply.  
  
"My sons couldn't be more juvenile." He looked up to see the woman who had led them down was leaning up against the wall laughing. She had ebony black hair except for sapphire blue bangs and looked about eighteen. She wore a silk nightgown and had a tail and a pair of wings. She sobered the instant she saw he was looking at her. She stood straight and curtsied.  
  
"And you are?"  
  
"I am Shay'Telnira, my Lord." As she said her name, one of his eyebrows raised in a mixture of surprise and recognition. She noticed it.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You wouldn't happen to be Shay'Telnira, daughter of the Empress, would you?"  
  
She nodded her head slightly. "That I am, my Lord."  
  
The brothers focused their attention on her curiously. Even Raziel and Dumah looked up at her. This was a new development.  
  
"Why were you leading my sons down? I wouldn't wish them on any lady of such distinguished blood."  
  
She made a face. "I got stuck baby-sitting."  
  
He chuckled, recognizing the look of disgust in her face. "How did that go?"  
  
"I think I established myself as either next to or above Raziel on the pecking chain."  
  
Kain hid a secretive, pleased smile.  
  
"Well, now that you boys are home," Shay'Telnira told them, "I'm going to head home."  
  
She turned and started walking up the path. Zephon's voice stopped her.  
  
"Can we come visit you sometime?"  
  
She turned back to them. "You just accused me of your little adventure and now you want to know if you can come visit me?"  
  
"Well . . . yeah! It may have been your fault, but it was fun."  
  
She just shook her head in exasperation and turned away to walk up the path again.  
  
"So can we?"  
  
"I don't care," she answered over her shoulder and shrugged her arms wide so they could see her. "Ask my mother if you really want to. As long as I don't end up baby-sitting again!"  
  
Kain watched her walk up the trail with a raised eyebrow and an amused and considering smile. 


	3. Shay'Telnira: Daughter of the Empress an...

A few weeks later, Kain and his brood stood before the Empress once again. Shay'Telnira had not been informed of their arrival yet. The Empress and Kain spoke quietly between on another while the brothers sat on the ground, being royally bored. Kain glanced down at them.  
  
"Hm," he murmured to the Empress. "My children seem to be quite bored. I suppose we should find a baby-sitter for them."  
  
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth and she turned to look down the corridor.  
  
"Shay'Telnira!"  
  
The brothers looked up as one, waiting to see her show up. It was the first possibility of a source of amusement they had had today. The daughter of the Empress walked into the cavern, her black hair pulled up and in a bun except for the bangs. She wore a tight halter top and black leather pants which were made for allowances to her tail. Her wings were pulled tightly against her back. She stood next to her mother and the brothers stared at her. Women weren't supposed to be clothed in pants. They were supposed to be in dresses.  
  
"You called for me, Mother?" Shay'Telnira asked.  
  
"Yes. I have need of you again, child."  
  
Shay'Telnira frowned at the brothers as she stated, "I'm going to get stuck baby-sitting again, aren't I?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"Pillar's Sacrifice!" She stomped her foot. "Why—" Her eyes suddenly widened and she dodged just as a blade came down where she had been a second before. Ker'orin slid into the next motion of the fight as Shay'Telnira kept backing up. Her hands went down to two leg sheaths with a pair of dagger nestled in them and pulled them out.  
  
"You're cheap, Ker'orin!"  
  
"You just pulled those damnable daggers out and you're calling me cheap?!"  
  
"Yes!" she responded as she smashed his blade away with her daggers.  
  
"Shay'Telnira!" the Empress shouted.  
  
"Don't blame it on me!" she returned. "It's not my fault. I didn't ask for this."  
  
"Actually," Ker'orin commented as he brought the blade down vertically and she rebounded it expertly, "you did."  
  
She caught a few more of his slashes, then got fed up. She hit away a thrust, twirled into his guard, and caught hold of his blade with her daggers. They had been specially made to have a long notch in the center of the blade nearly down to the hilt so she could catch weapons with both of them. She caught his blade and twisted, ripping the sword out of his hands. She put the daggers away, kept the sword in her hands, and walked back to her mother. She set the tip on the floor and perched her hands on the pommel. The Empress glared at her.  
  
"What?!" she demanded. "It wasn't my fault!"  
  
"He's your partner and you asked for him to try and catch you off- guard to hone your skills. It is your fault, and you are responsible for his actions."  
  
"Ker'orin," Shay'Telnira stated with a sigh. The silver-haired man nodded and moved behind her right shoulder. She held the sword out to him and he took a guard position, looking more like her guardian then her partner. The Empress looked at her for a long moment, then sighed.  
  
"Now, as I was saying before your partner interrupted, you will be baby-sitting again."  
  
It was Shay'Telnira's turn to sigh as she rubbed her eyes with her fingers. She looked at the brothers, muttered something under her breath, and turned away to head down the hall again. She could hear them follow her. After a while, she turned back to look at them and instinctively moved to the left a foot as a water balloon smashed into the ground where she had been a moment before. She looked up to see Zephon clinging to the ceiling. Noticing her gaze, he cursed and tried to scramble away. She reached up and caught hold of him. Carrying him under her arm, she went to her room, indicated for the brothers to enter, then shut the door. She set Zephon down, then sat down.  
  
"Now, to make a civil introduction. My name is Shay'Telnira, but you can call me Shay if you like. I remember each of your names well enough."  
  
She looked at them a long moment, then suppressed a smile and started shaking her head.  
  
"What?" Rahab asked. She smiled.  
  
"Ah, I'm just figuring out what slot each of you fit in as a brother."  
  
"Oh really?" Zephon challenged. "Try us."  
  
She looked between the six for a long moment, then said, "Raziel's the golden daddy's boy, Dumah the bully, Turel the 'lady's man,'—or thinks he's one, anyway—Rahab is the jock, Zephon the prankster, and Melchiah . . ." She trailed off a moment. "I get the feeling you fill in as the younger brother, filling in the slots of whiner, and the one being picked on."  
  
There was a long silence after she finished speaking. Then Zephon quietly commented, "Damn."  
  
"You were very close," Turel told her. "There was just one problem. I don't think I'm a lady's man. I KNOW I am."  
  
She sighed deeply, covered her face with her hands, and shook her head.  
  
"There's no hope," she murmured softly.  
  
"Yes, no hope of ever resisting my charms," Turel answered. She fixed one piercing amethyst eye on him and he backed up a step at the coldness he found there.  
  
"Well, then again, maybe there is hope of resistance."  
  
She shook her head and asked, "Would you boys please find something entertaining to do other than kill each other or bother me?"  
  
Her question was answered with silence as the brothers look amongst themselves. What else was there to do?  
  
"Well," Zephon muttered. "We could always finish up our card game."  
  
Shay'Telnira settled down in a chair to watch them as Zephon dealt, including Rahab and Turel this time, and excluding Melchiah as he climbed over the sit next to Shay'Telnira. She reached over and gently rubbed a hand over his head as he curled up in a ball in her lap. After a while of card exchanging and placing on the table, Shay'Telnira chuckled softly.  
  
"I don't think I have ever seen a game in which there was this much cheating."  
  
As one, the brothers demanded, "They're cheating?!"  
  
" 'They're'?" she responded with a laugh. "You all are."  
  
She watched in amusement as utter chaos rained down for a while. She moved Melchiah off her lap and whispered to him to stay out of the fight. He nodded as she walked into her room, then came out holding something. Turel managed to pull away from the fight and looked up at her.  
  
"Where are you going?"  
  
"To take care of some business," she responded. "Duck."  
  
After she said it, he felt someone's fist connect solidly with the back of his head. He shook his head a few times to clear it and dove back into the fight. Shay'Telnira sighed as she walked out of the room, shaking her head. After a few minutes, she returned and watched the utter havoc. She shook her head, then wadded in and threw the boys apart. They glared in anger at the one who interrupted them, then decided it was best not to be angry with the woman who could send Dumah into the wall. She looked at them all for a moment.  
  
"You know, I'm hungry," she commented.  
  
"So?"  
  
"I have to keep my eye on you all."  
  
Raziel, picking up on what she was hinting asked, "So you want us to come with you while you go find food?"  
  
"That would be nice," she answered.  
  
She led the brothers down the multitudes of halls to a large dining chamber. She glanced back at them as she told them, "You boys might want to learn the way to get around here. I have a feeling you'll be around her more than once." 


	4. Mistress Prankster

The kitchens weren't busy, per say, but there were quite a few people rushing in and out. The castle cook, a male with green wings and tail who went by the name of Zuren, greeted her.

"Hello, little empress," he welcomed her. She knew that he called her empress without a capital 'e' to remind her of her ever-present duties and every-present future. Like she needed be reminded. She was the equivalent of eighteen now, and her mother would very soon be starting to look for possible marriages. Just what she needed. Thankfully, there weren't any other clans that had to have political marriages, otherwise she'd have been stuck in one of those. Which left her in the state of mind that she had to find a lover who she liked. Soon.

Her culture was very bizarre in such a way. They only took one lover once, and once they had sex with him or her, they were bound to him for life. As such, when one of the pairing died, the other committed suicide, not being able to survive without the other. As such, they were very careful about who they slept with. And Shay'Telnira was in a trickier spot than most.

" 'Lo, Ren. Do you think you could scrounge anything up for me to steal?"

"In other words, 'Hello, Zuren, unprecedented cook that you are, would please see if you can find a bit of spare time to fix me up some sort of palatable sustenance since I was too busy with my training to find food at the proper hour?' "

Shay'Telnira's mouth twitched. "Actually, I was answering my mother's summons when I was about to eat, but you get the idea. And a little heavy on the self-praising, don't you think?"

Zuren laughed. "In this castle? Hardly. But hang on a sec. I'll get you something." He vanished to the back of the kitchen for a moment, then returned carrying a platter with a chunk of meat done rare, but quite warm. Shay'Telnira breathed in the smell with a smile.

"Ah, thanks, Ren. This smells as good as always."

"Do your little companions want anything?"

She glanced back at the vampires and could see, pale as they were, that they seemed just a bit paler as they looked at the food. Raziel shook his head.

"No, thanks, Ren. I think that's it, but—"

She was suddenly interrupted as a masculine voice roared from the depths of the castle, "SHAY'TELNIRA!!!!!"

"Oh, Pillar's Curse," she swore under her breath. Zuren took the platter out of her hands and shook his head as he sighed.

"Go. It'll be waiting for you when you get back."

She grinned a thanks and darted out the door. After a moment, the opposing doors slammed open and Ker'orin went streaking by shouting, "SHAY'TELNIRA!!!" and with . . . yes, with PINK hair. It wasn't just pale pink, either. It was a drop-dead, hot neon pink. The brothers blinked after him for a long moment. Then, Zephon sighed as if immensely pleased.

"I think I am going to like our new hostess."

Raziel glanced at him. "You would."

Zuren shook his head again and addressed the vampires, saying, "She'll be back in a second. These things happen all the time. She's constantly annoying the hell out of her Guardian. Sit down over there." He indicated toward a table. The brothers sat and Zuren stood nearby to see if they needed anything.

"Excuse me," Raziel began. "Zuren, I believe?" When he nodded, Raziel continued, "You just called Ker'orin her . . . Guardian, right?"

"Mm-hm."

"What is this Guardian? He called her his partner, as did she."

Zuren laughed broadly. "Ah, yes. I have no idea how _that_ relationship got started. You'll have to ask Mistress Prankster herself that. However, Ker'orin is what is called a Guardian, a person devoted to her for life. If it ever becomes necessary, he is to give up his life for her."

"Relationship?" Turel piped up.

"As in their . . . hm, how to put this?" He fell silent a moment.

"They're lovers?"

Zuren looked shocked by the idea. "Love— Oh, Pillars, boy, no!" He laughed again. "Relationship as in their time and travels together. They don't have any interest in each other."

Raziel took the conversation back over again, not particularly interested in hearing about Shay'Telnira's love life. "How does Ker'orin like knowing it might be necessary to be a martyr?"

"How would you?" Zuren retorted. "But he's accepted it. Pillars, it was what he was bred for. And Shay'Telnira and he have practiced long and hard both magic and metal so they always have something up their sleeve. Shay'Telnira would never forgive herself if Ker'orin had to give his life for her."

Silence fell for a time as each let the new information sink in. Zuren moved suddenly and set the platter down on the one spot left vacant on the table. A second later, Shay'Telnira dropped down into the seat, slipped the napkin into her lap, and proceeded to eat, letting memories of etiquette drilled in her head for years rise to the surface. When she was done, she cleaned off the plate and put it away, placing the platter on a stack. She indicated for the brothers to follow her again.

They returned to her room and she settled down in her chair again.

"When are you boys leaving?"

"Later today," Raziel replied. "Kain said he was here to discuss a treaty, or something."

"Treaty," she corrected absently.

"What?"

"Treaty with a capital 'T'. Or, at least, it is to us."

"By the way," Dumah interjected. "What did you do with Ker'orin?"

"Oh, the five hundred pounds of silver and pink also known as my Guardian? I tripped him and had him land in one of the lakes. He's out there cooling down."

Cut to-

Ice cold lake out on the reaches of Dragon Mount. Ker'orin is chained to one of the rocks, cursing his fate, Shay'Telnira, and his lack of looking _up_. With each muttered curse, the rock cracks a little more and he'll eventually be out of it, but it will take long into the night.

"You will pay for this, Shay."

On the plus side, the hair die hadn't been permanent, and it had washed out of his hair from his solid dunking.

Melchiah tugged on Shay'Telnira's hand, getting her attention. She looked down at him.

"I'm hungry," he whimpered softly. She sighed, but was too touched by him to say no. Granted, he was a vampire, but he was cute. And she dealt with scary and unpredictable things on a daily basis. And if anything, there was one thing reliable about vampires; their hunger for blood.

She used her sharp nail to cut into the skin on her wrist and offered it to him.

"Feed as you like," she told him. He smiled up at her in thanks and she turned her face away before she felt sharp little fangs prick into her skin. She looked up to find the brothers staring at her.

"Yes?" she asked patiently.

"He can kill a single human from drinking."

"And the rest of you can kill more, as your hunger is much stronger." She shrugged. "It matters little to me."

"Your death doesn't matter to you?"

She laughed then, a long, rippling laugh that was somewhat like the laugh they heard the vampires whose Gift relied in charms make. It seemed like a living place and touched every part inside you, as if nothing was hidden from her.

"There is no way this little one could drink my dry of my blood. For one, I have too much for him to drink all of it, and two, he'd become too tired after a while to keep feeding."

She could feel Melchiah's feeding had slowed and he yawned widely before crawling into her lap. She rubbed a hand on his head and watched him, a gentle smile on her face. The vampires went back to their game except for Raziel who sat down next to her, eyeing Melchiah worriedly. She glanced down and watched his body twitch slightly, enacting the dreams in his mind. She looked back at the eldest.

"Don't worry. He's merely dreaming."

"Of what?"

"Of what it's like to be one of us."

After a moment, Melchiah yawned widely and blinked sleepily a moment, then looked up at Shay'Telnira.

"How was it?" she asked softly.

"Oh, it was fun! And you were there, and you were teaching me, and, and—"

"Shh," she interrupted, putting a finger over his mouth. Fully aware of the five other brothers watching her, she said, "Let's keep what I am a secret between you and me, okay?"

"All right!"

As expected, his affirmative was met with a demand aimed toward her of "What are you?!" She grinned impishly at them and said nothing. She stood as someone knocked on her door.

"Yes?"

The Empress opened up the door, and behind her stood Kain.

"And here they are," she was saying. Shay'Telnira cocked her head to the side slightly.

"Are you stealing them back?"

"Stealing?" both the Empress and Kain repeated, amused by her word choice. Shay'Telnira opened her mouth to say something, decided against it, and shut it again. When she had her thoughts better organized, she tried something else.

"Are you going to be taking the vamplings?"

"Vamplings?" Dumah repeated, sounding relatively insulted. She glanced back at him.

"Yes, vamplings. As in, little vampires."

"I am not little!"

She stepped up to him, and he had to fight to not step back away from her. He stood just barely to her chin. She grinned mischievously and ruffled his hair while commenting, "My vampling."

"I am not your vampling."

"For as long as I'm going to be stuck baby-sitting you, yes, you are going to be my vampling."

The Empress shook her head slightly in amusement as she interrupted, "Yes, the . . . vamplings are leaving."

"Oh."

"Why? Are you saddened by the fact?"

"Well, sort of," Shay'Telnira responded honestly. "They were amusing."

Kain indicated toward the boys and they silently complied, filing out of the room.

"It seems you will have to taunt your partner more if you'd like to be entertained, then," Raziel murmured to her before walking after his creator. The Empress and Shay'Telnira saw them off, then the Empress turned to her.

"What do you think of them?"

"I don't know," Shay'Telnira answered carefully.

"Let me rephrase myself, then. Would you mind if they came back?"

Shay'Telnira looked back where the vampires had disappeared for a moment, aware of her mother's eyes on her.

"No," she finally stated with a smile. "No, I wouldn't mind if they came back."

"SHAY'TELNIRA!!"

"Oh Pillars! It's Ker'orin!"


	5. Histories?

"Shay'Telnira!"

"Yes, Mother?" Shay'Telnira walked into the main hall and was immediately pounced on by a small body who wrapped its arms about her neck.

"Shay!"

Shay'Telnira pulled her head back to look at the bundle, recognizing the voice.

"Hello, Melchiah." She looked up to see the rest of the boys walking toward her. Beyond them, Kain stood next to the Empress.

"I suppose I'm baby-sitting again?"

"All night and day," her mother responded. "They are staying for the day, what your younger friends might effectively call and over-night. Or, over-day, in this case, but I digress. Lord Kain and I have reached a point in the discussions of the Treaty where neither of us can afford to be distracted by children. So keep them busy and out of our hair."

"Yes, Mother." Shay'Telnira suppressed a sigh, but led the brothers away toward her room. She glanced out one of the windows on the way through the hall and saw the sun beginning to rise. She yawned widely, and heard it echoed by Melchiah who was still in her arms.

"Sleepy?" she asked him.

"Yeah."

"You look tired yourself," Rahab pointed out as she yawned again. She nodded while yawning.

"I usually go to sleep about an hour before sunrise and don't wake up or get up until late evening. For some reason or another, I have a very strong nocturnal habit. Drove my mother crazy, but she learned to deal. That was why I was still in bed asleep when you boys came that first day, and why I was so grouchy. I don't like being woken."

"I noticed," Zephon muttered from the back. She glanced back at him, but decided she didn't want to pursue it. It just wasn't worth the time or effort.

When they finally entered Shay'Telnira's quarters, she looked around and sighed.

"I'm going to have to go bed-scrounging, aren't I?"

"You only need five," Turel breathed to her softly, moving up behind her. "I can sleep with you."

Shay'Telnira rolled her eyes and threw over her shoulder, "You wish. And, besides, you're the kind of man who needs a bed of straw, and I'm just not happy with that."

She headed out the room and dug around the castle for a good two hours, bringing in the extra cots she could find. She ended up with four cots, and one baby crib, which Melchiah, being the smallest and youngest, ended up being dumped into. Turel laughed and walked up next to Shay'Telnira, who stood next to the crib, having just set Melchiah in.

"Ah, the baby gets the little crib all to himself," Turel teased, before putting an arm around Shay'Telnira. "Since there are only four other cots, I suppose I'll just have to sleep with you, right, Shay?"

Shay'Telnira turned to him slowly, blinking at him a moment. Then she calmly picked up Melchiah, grabbed the back of Turel's metal design, and tossed him into the crib. Before he could react, she grabbed the top of the crib and shut it, so it was almost like a little cage. She shuffled Melchiah slightly so he was sitting on her hip and she looked down at him.

"Come on, Melchiah, you're going to sleep with me tonight."

"Yay!"

Turel groaned in rage as the other brothers laughed at his plight. Shay'Telnira went into her room, slid into bed, and let Melchiah snuggle up against her. She stayed on her back for a while, staring up at the ceiling. What strange creatures they were. She wondered why her mother was insisting on her watching over them. There were more tolerant people of her race who would be glad to watch over them, but it ended up being her. What was her mother planning, and how did it involve her? And what was this about the Treaty? The Treaty had been forged when Shay'Telnira had been young, the equivalent of a newborn. Why were they going over it and changing it now?

She suddenly became aware of the little body next to her shifting and moving with great frequency. She sat up and looked down at Melchiah.

"Can't sleep, little love?"

"No." He sat up and hugged her waist. "Raz usually tells me a story before I go to sleep, and I can't sleep without it."

"You want me to tell you a story, then, little love?"

She chuckled as his face brightened. She moved back so she could rest against the headboard of her bed, moved Melchiah into her lap, and pulled a blanket around both of them to keep them warm.

"Very well, I'll tell you a story. This story starts on a planet very similar to this one, very, very long ago. The world was green and bright, the nights clear and crisp. Animals of all sorts lived there peacefully for years, even humans. Above it all, flew the creatures you have seen." She grabbed one of the winged lizard toys Melchiah had brought with him and flapped its wings a few times, making him smile.

"These creatures were beautiful, and their numbers ranged in the thousands. Humans sought them out for advice and the land was whole."

As she spoke, she calmly reached up and caught a water balloon, then threw it back up, where it smashed into Zephon's face, he fell, cursing, and wiped it away quickly. Shay'Telnira continued the story like nothing had happened, and Zephon was swiftly caught up and whisked away by the story.

"Then, one day, a race of creatures came, beings that didn't know how the world worked. They were wonderful in their own way, and were not bound to the ground like everything else. They were blue-skinned, and had huge bird-like wings. They fought this primordial race, fearing its hold on the world, and the influence it held over the elements."

Abruptly, Shay'Telnira felt a pair of clawed hands sneak around her waist and she easily elbowed Turel in the face, never breaking the story. She pointed to the end of the bed as he whimpered and he sat where she indicated.

"What neither the primordial race or the blue-skinned race knew was that there was another race in the background, manipulating the two. They were dark and twisted, but also thought they were doing what needed to be done."

The door slammed open and Rahab raced in, followed by a very angry Dumah. Shay'Telnira shifted, picked up Rahab with her tail, and set him down on the bed. Rahab stuck his tongue out at Dumah and Dumah glared back, but both quickly stopped and listened to the story.

"Finally, the winged race and the primordial race realized the deception and banded together to fight against them. Many lives were lost, but in the end, the two races managed to banish the third to a darker world where they would stay."

There was a polite knock at the door and Raziel stuck his head in, silently asking permission to enter. Shay'Telnira nodded and patted the place on the bed next to her. Raziel sat down where she indicated while Turel glared moodily at him.

"The two races crafted the Pillars, and the winged one made a key for it, a key that the primordial race did not help in making. And so lock and key were set into place. The two races made a pact with each other. The primordials would pull back, limit their influence, and the winged ones would take control of the planet and care for it. The primordial race was happy to oblige; humans had changed and had begun to fear and kill them. They would move away from the world willingly. But the winged ones made a hard bargain. They didn't want the first ones to become too powerful, so part of the agreement between them was that the race would only take one mate at a time. If the mate died, they could take another, but not before. At the time, it was fine, but slowly it became inbred that if one of the first race should take a mate, it would be for their lifetime. And if their mate died, the other would sacrifice herself because she couldn't live without him. So when a tragedy befell the winged ones and the first went out to help them, they lost many of their breeding numbers, and their race dwindled. There was nothing they could do for the winged ones, but the winged ones found a new way to reproduce. The primordial race drew away again, and was obliterated to all time, and was not found again until several hundreds of thousands of years later when an enterprising young descendent of these winged ones found the first ones again. And so, an agreement was reached, and descendents of both sides would work together to restore the world to its former health."

"That's rather sad," Rahab observed quietly. Shay'Telnira nodded.

"Yes, but it is not without hope."

"What was the story about?" Melchiah asked.

"Oh, nothing!" Shay'Telnira waved a hand at him cheerfully. "It's just an old story about how the Pillars came to be and our travels through history. It's just a tale. Don't worry about it. Now, on to a more light-hearted topic."

She told them another story, this one full of fights and impudent humans who got what was coming to them. She made a wise choice; the vampires loved it. When everyone was finally asleep, except for Raziel, who stubbornly stayed awake, Shay'Telnira leaned back and let darkness enclose her mind, knowing that when she work, she'd have six little vamplings to stay with her for a while longer.

'You're getting far too attached to them,' a part of her voice whispered to her.

'I don't care,' was all the front part of her brain retorted with.


	6. The Primordial Race

The Empress let her fingers steeple and rested her chin on them, Kain across from her at a long table.

"Do you think she'll figure it out?" Kain inquired. The Empress shook her head.

"She's a smart girl, and she knows something's up, but probably not what. If we're lucky, she'll be too attached to them to care by the time she does figure out what's going on."

Kain was quiet for a moment. "How long do you think it will take?"

The Empress sighed, exasperated. "Even when you as an arrogant fledgling found our hide-away, you never knew patience. Now you're a master vampire _still_ without it. Cultivate it, vampire, for you will need it."

"I am more patient than you know, Vian'Larae," Kain retorted. The Empress jerked her head up in surprise, then settled it back onto her hands again.

"It's been a long time since I've heard my name spoken."

"Perhaps too long." He paused, grinned impishly, and leaned toward her.

"So, Vian'Larae, what are you doing tonight?"

The Empress blinked up at him in sheer surprise, then tipped her head back and laughed. Kain joined her, letting that trademarked malicious laugh spread out into the air.

"Who would have ever guessed . . ." the Empress managed out around her laughter, "the Lord of Vampires . . . hitting on me like a normal mortal might!"

"You had such a long face, I thought it'd do good for you to laugh."

"Ah, my Lord, if only you had found us a couple hundred years earlier."

"But, if you'll remember correctly, my Lady, I was busy killing Sarafan at the time."

"Oh yes, I had forgotten. That was quite a bit of fun to watch."

"And here I thought you were supposed to be a creature of good who hated the vampires," he pointed out.

"Hardly." She waved a hand at him, dismissing the notion. "We have our own grudge against the Sarafan."

Shay'Telnira yawned widely and opened her eyes. She was alone in her bed, and her vamplings were no where to be seen. She got up slowly, stretching, and quickly changed before heading out to find where the vampires had gone. Curious, she stepped out into the main part of her chambers and found Raziel leaning back idly in one of her chairs, paging through a book, Melchiah sitting on the floor, making the little winged lizard toys fly, Rahab staring out the window into the night, and Turel who was sitting in a meditative stance, tracing arcane runes in the air. She glanced around then looked at Raziel, to see he was looking at the writing with a bizarre expression. She glanced over and saw the book was written in her people's language.

"You need to teach me how to read and write this, Shay."

"All right," she responded, "But we won't start today. Where is Dumah and Zephon?"

As if that was his cue, Zephon came back into the room, rubbing his hands and grinning maniacally. Shay'Telnira saw this and decided she just did _not_ want to know. Raziel watched him, shook his head slightly, and turned back to Shay'Telnira.

"Well, apparently Zephon's just finished some mischief. As for Dumah, he went to the training hall, which is actually usual for him. I'm supposed to go meet him in a few minutes so we can spar."

"Ah." Shay'Telnira opened her mouth to continue when it was rudely interrupted from just outside her door.

"SHAY'TELNIRA!!!"

Shay'Telnira winced as the door slammed open, a very pissed-off Ker'orin standing in the doorway. Her eyes widened to see his hair was dyed a bright sunny yellow. He stormed toward her and she held her hands up as if to ward off a blow.

"Shay'Telnira, you have done some damn dirty tricks, but never before have you resorted to _permanent hair dye!!!_"

"I didn't do it, Orin! I didn't! You know I'd never be THAT mean to you! I've got to live with you for my life, for the Pillars' sakes!"

She felt Raziel stand and move up to her left, silently being support that if Ker'orin had mad a violent move against her, he would have been at her side in an instant to help.

"Then who did, Shay?" Ker'orin's voice was dangerously soft and she had never heard him this angry before. For the first time in her life, she was actually scared of him.

"Hey," another voice intersected. "What's going on?"

All three looked down to see Zephon standing there, looking back up at them. Ker'orin's eyes narrowed and his hand launched out to grab the vampire's arm. Raziel immediately grabbed Ker'orin's arm in response, sharp talons trying to dig into the silver hide that was the silver-haired man's skin. Shay'Telnira saw what he was looking at, however; Zephon's hands were covered in a pale yellow stain from a certain permanent hair dye. She grabbed the end of Ker'orin's long hair to keep him from doing anything.

"You can't kill him, Orin!"

"I know," Ker'orin hissed. "I have something much worse in mind. Let go of me, Raziel. You needn't worry for the life of your brother. In dyeing my hair, he insulted my honor, and by our laws, I can see him punished in a fitting way."

Ker'orin grabbed him by the back of his metal design and picked him up before turning and walking down the hall. Shay'Telnira and Raziel followed worridly, and Shay'Telnira's eyes widened when she saw he was heading for the kitchen. Ker'orin slammed the doors open and the people inside scattered, recognizing Ker'orin as being in his 'super death' mode. No one wanted to deal with a very pissed-off and infuriated Guardian.

"Zuren!" he called. The green-winged male stepped forward and Ker'orin handed him Zephon.

"Give him _oven duty._"

Zuren gasped. "NO! Not oven duty—"

"GIVE IT TO HIM!"

Zuren shrank away from the Guardian, nodding hastily, saying, "Yes, yes, of course." He took Zephon, looked down at him, and shook his head sadly before walking away with the vampire who had wide eyes, wondering what was to become of him. Ker'orin breathed in deeply, let it out as a sigh, and turned back to Shay'Telnira and Raziel, obviously in a better mood.

"All right, I'm better now."

"Good," Shay'Telnira responded hesitantly. She took hold of Raziel's arm. "I'm just going to take him back with me to my room now. Good-bye!"

"No sex!" Ker'orin called after her. Once they were around a corner, Shay'Telnira slapped a hand over her burning face as she muttered death curses about her Guardian. Raziel just laughed.

"Did he say no sex just because he'd want to join in?" Raziel teased her gently. She looked up at him, a horrified expression on her face, and while he promised himself he wasn't planning on saying anything more, he just couldn't help twisting the knife by adding, "Well, we should make sure to lock the door so he can't get in." After all, he was still a vampire, and was taking great amusement in her discomfort. She shoved away from the wall and walked stiffly back to her room, Raziel following, a slight smirk on his features.

She had just gotten back, settled down, and Raziel had come in and shut the door when there was a soft knock on it. Raziel stood to walk to it, but Shay'Telnira made a negation gesture and walked to open it herself. Outside she found the Empress, Kain, and behind him, a Dumah looking very grouchy after having been interrupted.

"Come, Shay'Telnira," her mother stated. "It's time for us to show these children what exactly we are."

Shay'Telnira's eyes widened. "We're . . . telling them . . . ?"

"Yes. Come on. Bring them up to the top tower. We'll be using the balcony for this."

"Ye . . . yes, Mother. As you wish."

She quickly indicated for the vampires to follow her and trailed after her mother and Kain as they made their way up to the highest tower. The brothers glanced at Shay'Telnira curiously, seeing her staring straight ahead in a determined, if rather freaked out, sort of way. The walls enclosed around them, and they continued walking in silence before it finally ended in a large room that looked similar to the antechamber to Shay'Telnira's room. They could see other doors further into the room, but they headed instead to the balcony that resided on the other side of the door they had entered. The Empress and Kain moved slightly to the side and she looked at Shay'Telnira.

"Go ahead, child. Take your true form and show them what it is they deal with now."

"As you wish, Empress."

Shay'Telnira moved to the balcony railing, then stepped up onto it, taloned toes gripping the metal slightly. Then she raised her arms and fell forward, off the balcony. The boys naturally moved closer, Melchiah with a slight gasp of surprise. Her small form fell quickly, then suddenly seemed to enlarge and grow. Her body shifted and elongated, her wings spread wider and seemed to catch more of the space as her figure, though still falling, seemed to get bigger. The new form slammed its wings into the air current a few times, then twisted like quicksilver and flew back up to the balcony. Six pairs of vampire eyes widened as a large, serpentine creature slowed to a stop in front of them, amethyst wings beating slowly. It looked like a large, streamlined lizard with gigantic bat-like wings. A barbed tail swung out below it into the open air. The vampire children backed up a few steps and the mouth of the creature opened, revealing long, white fangs, at least five inches long. It suddenly dawned on them the being was laughing at them.

Melchiah suddenly launched forward and grabbed the top of the creature's nose, hugging it.

"Shay!"

The thing pressed its wings against the air and rose, bringing huge clawed feet down over the balcony railing. Before it touched, however, the form seemed to shrink in on itself, to grow smaller. Scales coalesced into skin, fangs retreated to normal teeth, and the feet that landed on the railing again were the human-like feet of Shay'Telnira, who was now holding Melchiah in her arms.

There was silence from the vampires and Kain glanced at them.

"Now, now," he scolded them. "No compliments to your wonderful host for exposing such a secret. I'm ashamed of you."

"What are you?" Raziel finally breathed. The Empress laughed.

"My boy, you are looking at the last remnants of the original race of this planet. You are looking at the dragons of Nosgoth."


	7. The Gala

The boys blinked for a long moment, silence descending about the balcony. The Empress looked over the assembled group and her eyebrows knitted together.

"Shay'Telnira, where is Zephon?"

"Oh, he got over duty."

The Empress' eyes widened as she inquired, "Why?"

"He dyed Ker'orin's hair yellow."

"You do that all the time. I fail to understand how that constitutes the punishment of over duty."

"It was with permanent hair dye."

The Empress was silent for a moment, then raised a hand to cover her mouth, obviously hiding a smile.

"Oh." She glanced over to see Kain had a raised eyebrow and was about to inquire just what exactly over duty was. The Empress shook her head to stop him.

"I'll tell you later."

At that moment, they heard a cough and turned to see Ker'orin walking toward them, holding a very scared, dirty, dejected, and burnt Zephon by the back of the metal design across his chest. Shay'Telnira quickly set down Melchiah and took Zephon from Ker'orin, noticing that he had fashionably wrapped a piece of cloth around his hair until the yellow wore out.

"If you'll excuse me, now," Ker'orin stated, bowing to the Empress and giving a nod of respect to Kain, "but I have to go kill something."

With a very stiff back, he walked back out of the chambers. Shay'Telnira had been biting her lip, but when he finally walked out of the room, she broke down in laughter. The Empress just shook her head as Kain indicated to his children that it was time to go.

"By the way," Raziel asked of Melchiah as they headed down the stairs, "how did you know that was Shay?"

"Because that's what Shay looked like in my dream," he responded happily. "And she was teach me to fly, and . . ."

It was a few weeks later when they returned, and all the vampires were surprised to see the entire city bustling about, seeming to get ready for some ceremony. Kain looked around, an amused expression on his face.

"What's going on?" Dumah inquired.

"It's gala night," Kain responded. At his son's blank expression, he sighed deeply, explaining, "It's a large celebration consisting of dancing and a feast, along with games and other entertainment."

The little vampire nodded in understanding and they headed up to the main castle to meet with the Empress and Shay'Telnira. For once, it seemed Shay'Telnira had known they were coming, as she met them in the Great Hall. The brothers blinked at her in surprise as for the first time ever since they had met her, she was wearing a dress. It stopped mid-thigh, was sleeveless, and was done in red silk in a sort of Oriental style. She immediately scooped up Melchiah and hugged him.

"Hello! I hadn't expected you boys to come here tonight."

"Well, here we are," Rahab stated simply. Shay'Telnira looked up as the Empress walked up to stand next to her daughter.

"And you're just in time, as well," the Empress added. "Come, come. The gala is about to begin."

The boys were separated from the maker, and quickly herded into a large open courtyard that looked like it could fit three creatures the size of Shay'Telnira's dragon form. Around the edges chairs and tables were set up for the guests and people of the city. The boys were given a table to the side, but near the front of the courtyard. At the front was a slightly raised dais and three throne-like chairs, two at the same height, one shorter and a little to the right of the left high throne. Shay'Telnira appeared and stood before the chair and stayed standing as Kain and the Empress moved out to the other two taller chairs. The Empress nodded once to Kain and they both sat simultaneously, then Shay'Telnira sat down. There was a murmur at this; the chair Kain sat in was the one usually reserved for the Emperor, and the way both sat in time indicated that the Empress found Kain an equal and worthy of respect. Again, it was a procedure that was more often observed between emperor and empress, rather than two political allies. Shay'Telnira raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing, and the feast began.

The vampire brothers sat around their table and chatted idly, rather bored with everything as a whole. Well, most were, anyway. Turel had vanished and was off chatting with several of the younger females, and Shay'Telnira noted by their laughter that he was doing admirably well. The rest of the brothers would have gone up and talked to Shay'Telnira, but they had been warned not to approach the royalty, which Rahab had stated was quite silly and strange, as they were the sons of one of the people up there. However, the dragons had held true to tradition and refused them access.

Finally the actual dances came. Raziel breathed in deeply, trying to gather the courage to ask Shay'Telnira to dance. Shay'Telnira, unaware of Raziel's thoughts, looked down at the situation through a deep-seated resentment of it. She hated the dances; it was when potential consorts would as the daughter or son of the Empress and Emperor to dance. If the royal turned down such offers, then it was a political and social penalty, as an indication they weren't acceptable. However, those that were accepted, meant that the royal had accepted their offer of courtship, which was a social merit and a huge honor. Shay'Telnira had been forced to already turn down one or two offers, but most of the younger dragons didn't want to risk loosing the standing they had gained. So she sighed, bit her lip, and swore to herself to make it through the night.

Then, as the first bits of music started, a young male from one of the houses stood, walked fearlessly up to Shay'Telnira, and bowed, holding a hand out, silently asking if she'd like to dance. A silence fell across the assembled as they waited to see what she'd do. The Empress looked down at the male, a raised eyebrow, and Kain glared at him through narrow eyes. Shay'Telnira took in the appearance of the male, putting a name to face. He was Tyrastan, the young son of the House of Glass, and he had been hatched about the same time she had. He had long brown hair pulled back, with bits of quicksilver highlights, and his wings and tail were the color of his House. They had been good friends as children, but had grown apart as they had gotten older and been given more responsibility. She found herself wanting to rekindle that old friendship, so she reached out and took his hand. He looked up and smiled dazzlingly at her as he pulled her gently from her seat and led her down to the main floor.

The Empress' eyes narrowed to match Kain's, and at the table, Raziel's claws clenched slowly in a growing anger. This was most definitely not how it was supposed to go. Dumah and Rahab looked over to see their elder brother's furious expression and exchanged a look.

"What's up, Raz?" Rahab asked.

"Him," the vampire hissed, gaze never wavering from Shay'Telnira and Tyrastan. Both brothers looked to the pair, confused. From next to Dumah, Zephon sang softly under his breath, "Someone's getting jealous." If Raziel heard, however, he gave no sign.

Tyrastan swirled Shay'Telnira round in the movements of the dance, holding her close enough for the dance to not look awkward, but not so close that she would be uncomfortably near him.

"It's been a long time, Shay," he stated simply, smiling.

"That it has, Tyr. What have you been up to all this time."

"Learning," was the reply. "Learning and experiencing life outside of the mountain. You should do it sometime, Shay. You'd be surprised what you can learn."

The dance continued, the music slowly creeping across the courtyard. Finally, it slowed, swirled up, and came to a stop. People around them were already whispering, as he was the first Shay'Telnira had ever accepted a dance with. Tyrastan looked over her shoulder, and his eyebrows knit together. Shay'Telnira looked over to see the vampire brothers, Raziel looking like he was about to walk toward them, with Rahab, Dumah, and Zephon all holding him back.

"That brat's baby-sitter had better go calm him down," Tyrastan stated bluntly. Shay'Telnira sighed.

"Be right back."

"What?" he responded in confusion and surprise as she walked away toward the vampires. As soon as she had walked away from Tyrastan, Raziel had stopped pulling at his brothers and just met her gaze, watching her walk toward him. Dumah, Rahab, and Zephon hesitantly let him go and breathed a silent sigh of relief when he didn't try to go storming off again.

"What's wrong?" Shay'Telnira asked as soon as she got there.

"Why him?" Raziel demanded.

"Why what?"

"Why him? Why did you dance with him?"

She sighed. "Because he's an old friend of mine who I haven't talked to for a long time. Why?"

"So you . . . care for him?"

Shay'Telnira blinked at him a moment. "This is very unlike you, Raziel."

Raziel shook his head as if to clear if. "Yes, yes, you're quite right. I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

Tyrastan walked over to them, and stood next to Shay'Telnira. Raziel glared up at the male, and the male dragon glared right back at him. Shay'Telnira sighed again, not seeing the staring contest going on, and turned to Tyrastan.

"I'm sorry to do this, but duty calls me now that the gala is over. I have to go."

"All right." He nodded once to her respectfully and turned and walked calmly away. Shay'Telnira looked around, quickly went and grabbed Turel away from the female dragons, and counted pairs of golden eyes.

"Where's Melchiah?" she inquired.

"Here," his voice rose from behind her. She turned and found him standing behind her. She reached down and picked him up.

"Where were you?"

He just shrugged in answer, and Shay'Telnira led her vamplings out of the courtyard. Raziel stood close to her, just behind her to her right shoulder, and from in the courtyard, Tyrastan glared after him.

"Vampires . . ." he hissed angrily.


	8. This Bodes No Good For Tyr

Shay'Telnira smiled across the table at Tyrastan. He chuckled and picked up his fork and stabbed a small piece of meat with it. She cocked her head, an eyebrow raising.

"What are you planning on— Mmmph!!" While she had been talking, he moved with lightning speed and stuffed the fork in her mouth. She mock glared at him and took the fork, eating the meat bit that was on it. Tyrastan grinned in triumph. She smiled at him.

"You know," he started, taking the fork back and cutting her another piece of meat before stuffing it between her lips whether she liked it or not, "you don't spend enough time with me." He looked genuinely sad, and Shay'Telnira's eyebrows knit together in concern.

"I'm sorry, Tyr, but— No! Don't stuff that in my mouth! I'm done, thank you." She shook her head as he put the fork down.

"I can't help it," she continued. "I have to watch over the brothers. It's one of my duties, and Mother won't let me out of it."

"I understand," he sighed, "I just feel kinda left out sometimes, you know?"

"I'm sorry." She leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll do what I can, okay?"

"Thanks," he smiled down at her gently, and scooped her up against him in a hug.

The vampires saw less and less of their hostess and baby-sitter, and when they did see her, she seemed distant and lost in her thoughts. More often than not, the brothers ended up with Ker'orin who scowled after where Shay'Telnira had disappeared. Melchiah seemed sad for a while, then he began vanishing off for long periods of time. The rest of the boys spent their time playing cards listlessly, not even getting into their normal arguments and fights.

"Good evening," Shay'Telnira greeted them happily as she walked in, her feet apparently on a metaphorical cloud. The brothers looked up at her.

"What's with all the long faces?" she teased. Even Ker'orin glowered at her from his corner. Fed up with this, Raziel stood.

"Shay, may I speak with you for a minute? Privately, please?"

"Sure." She led him out into the empty hallway, curious at what he had to say, and shut the door gently. She turned to him.

"What would you like?"

"Shay, hasn't this gone far enough?" he demanded bluntly. "You've been completely ignoring us, and been spending all your time with that male."

" 'That male' is my friend, Raziel, and a possible fiancé."—Raziel's eye twitched, but Shay'Telnira didn't notice it.—"Don't get me wrong, I'd love to spend more time with you—"

"Then do it!"

"I CAN'T!" She bit her tongue and breathed in deeply, restraining her annoyance. She didn't want to unleash her fury on Raziel; he wasn't truly the cause of her anger. It was just that he was bringing up her clashing duties to the dragons.

"I've come to the point where I'm going to have to be engage and I need to spend time looking for possibilities."

"And that's more important than us?"

Shay'Telnira sighed. "It is and it isn't. But would you have me unhappily wed because I spent all my time with you?"

"I would rather see you married to anyone else but him!"

Her anger exploded again. "And what is wrong with him?!"

"He's no good for you!"

"And how would you know what's good for me and what's not?!"

In their argument, their faces had drawn inches away from each other, both glaring at the other with teeth bared in a silent snarl. Shay'Telnira snorted and twisted, storming away from the vampire and down the hall, knowing if she didn't calm down she was going to do something rash she would have regretted later. Then again, with how much he was getting involved in her love life recently, she might not have regretted it.

Raziel growled low in his throat, then it died out and he sighed deeply. He had done the exact opposite of what he had wanted to do. He hadn't intended to get Shay'Telnira angry with him; he had just wanted to try to make her see that Tyrastan wasn't good enough for her.

Suddenly, he felt a clawed hand grab his shoulder and slam him up against a wall. He found a pair of furious glass-colored eyes glaring at him. Talons touched the vampire's neck gently in a silent threat as Tyrastan growled at him.

"You will leave her alone, _boy_. She may not understand that you want her, but I do, and she is and always will be **_mine!_** And if you tell anyone about this, I'll kill you." Tyrastan rumbled lowly in his throat before dropping the young vampire and racing down the hall after Shay'Telnira. Raziel stared after the dragon-male in surprise, then his eyes narrowed and his claws clenched into a fist. He snarled, but kept himself in check. After all, unlike Tyrastan, Raziel was diplomatic and remembered his manners. It seemed this male did not and needed to be reminded of where he was on the social ladder.

Raziel turned back to the door and walked into the room. He grabbed Ker'orin by the arm and dragged the Guardian to his feet and into a side chamber.

"What can I do for you, Raziel?" the Guardian inquired. Raziel turned to him and told him what had just happened with Tyrastan. A frown tugged at Ker'orin's lips as Raziel began his tale, and by the time he wrapped it up, the frown had embedded itself into a wrathful scowl. Raziel knew that Ker'orin had no love for Tyrastan and thought Shay'Telnira could do a lot better than him.

"I understand why you told me, but why not Shay? She'd like to know something like this, and she'd probably believe you."

"Yeah, she probably would have," Raziel sighed with a slight bitter chuckle, "but a few seconds before we had just gotten into a fight about him."

"Oh." He rubbed his chin. "Shay's usually pretty good about listening to friends, but she has a tendency for being rather vindictive and cruel should she feel she's being lied to. And she probably would have in that situation." He sighed deeply. "Well, I can't tell her either."

"What? Why not?!"

"Do you really think she'd believe _me_ on the topic?! She already knows my opinion of the boy. If you really want to make her believe it, you're going to have to find proof." He paused and grinned, leaned forward, and grabbed the vampire's ear.

"Listen up, this is what we're going to do . . ."

It took a week to put it all together and get everything ready. Raziel had recruited his younger brothers to help Ker'orin and himself to set the situation up and find incriminating evidence. Zephon had grinned widely at the prospect of sneaking into the dragon-male's home and happily took the job. They set their ideas into action, and Raziel had been the one who had to deal with the hardest job: approaching Kain asking if they could stay the week. The vampire lord had merely waved a claw at his eldest son, acknowledging his request.

"It's going to take longer to set up this Treaty than I had originally projected," he had stated simply, dismissing the boy. After Raziel had left the room, Kain glanced across the table at the Empress who nodded solemnly. Kain smirked. (A/N: Does it seem like they know more than they let on?)

Seven days and nights passed, and on the seventh night, Shay'Telnira found herself accosted by several vampire children who hugged her and demanded a story. Shay'Telnira sputtered an answer; she had been on the way to meet Tyrastan for dinner. But Melchiah quickly climbed up into her arms and hugged her, asking, "Pwease?"

She sighed deeply and nodded. Perhaps it wouldn't take them too long to fall asleep and she could just be a bit late. She followed them into her chambers and stopped at the door, surprised. Raziel, Turel and Dumah all sat at a table with grave expressions, and Zephon and Rahab quickly went over to join them. Melchiah stayed in her arms and she walked toward them slowly.

"Please, Shay, sit," Turel entreated, indicating one of the chairs. She slid into one of the seats slowly, eyeing the brothers with a mixture of worry and curiosity. Raziel set something on the table and pushed it across to her.

"We found this and thought you might like to look at it."

Shay'Telnira picked it up, blinking at them for a long moment, then flipped the book open to the first page. She recognized it as Tyrastan's journal. Her gaze lifted to the vampires again.

"You stole his journal and are now giving it to me to read?" She closed it and set it down. "I will not. I will not invade his privacy like that, and furthermore, you _will_ put this back."

"Shay," Ker'orin's voice came from the door to one of the further in chambers, "see the read silk bookmark? At least read that page."

Her eyes narrowed into slitted glaring orbs of amethyst and he sighed deeply, pleading, "Please."

"Agh. Fine." She flipped the book open again, knowing that she would never hear the end of it from her charges and Guardian if she didn't. The mark was on a page near where he had stopped writing, and she quickly read down his elegant scrawl.

__

Shay's everything I could ever dream of and more. I never thought for an instant when we were little that she would grow into such a woman. Of course, I had other things on my mind then, like actually beating_ her in a wrestling match. Speaking of which, I still haven't tried that recently . . . But I'd almost be ashamed to lose or win. The actual fight, however, would be most magnificent, getting that close to that gorgeous body of hers, and every aspect of her, from her legs to—_

She broke off reading the book as he went into details about her body she'd never thought anyone would compliment or like, and looked up at the vampires again.

"Is this what you want me to read? His interest in me?"

"Keep reading," Rahab answered. She sighed, rolled her eyes, but looked back down at the page.

_—body, but it seems I'm not going to get such an opportunity just yet. She's apparently been assigned to watch those little brats, who are supposedly, as the Empress puts it, "this world's guardians." Bah! They're parasites, plain and simple. I do not like them, nor do I think Shay should have to deal with such vermin. She's better than that. I especially don't enjoy her choice in company of the eldest; she may not understand how he looks at her, but I do, and he can keep his thieving hands off her._

Shay'Telnira's hands clenched on themselves, fighting against her growing rage. Those "parasites" were her little vamplings, her friends, and to know that the person who's been the light of her days for the past few weeks bares them so much ill-will . . . She bit her lower lip as she read on, and Tyrastan continued about finding some way to get her away from their corruptive influence. It seemed that his commenting to her about her not spending enough time with him was only to get her away from the vampires. She slammed the book shut at the end of the page, unable to read any more, and closed her eyes, her clawed fingers curling around the book. Dumah looked like he would have said something, but Ker'orin tapped him on the shoulder lightly, silently telling him to not speak. When Shay'Telnira opened her eyes again, there was a hard light in them, and the smile that stretched her lips was anything but loving and caring.

"Ker'orin, go retrieve Tyrastan of the House of Glass for me, please."

"As you wish, my Lady," he responded, bowing low, and knowing the anger in her eyes. Tonight would not end well for the young House lord.


	9. This REALLY Bodes No Good For Tyr

__

A/N: Oh, and a special note to you, **1**- no, I'm not really loosing my momentum, and don't worry, I take no offense. Actually, I had been kinda wondering the same thing about myself. What it is, it's a mixture of the school year coming to a close, my senior project, and stressing about finals. Now that it's almost all done, I'm cooling off a lot better, so I'm able to get back to working on my stories again. Don't worry, I'll be working on the TR/SR one soon, too. Speaking of which, I need to go do a review response for it . . .

After Ker'orin had left, Raziel quietly told her what had happened after they had fought. Shay'Telnira didn't say anything, but there was the ominous sound of her knuckles cracking as she pressed her fingers tightly to her palms to restrain herself. There was a long time of silence, then a polite knock at the door. The brothers had left their seats and all leaned against the walls near the door, waiting. Melchiah sat in a chair next to Shay'Telnira, and Shay'Telnira had moved her chair to face the door. The door opened and Tyrastan came in, blinking curiously at Shay'Telnira.

"Shay, how come you didn't show up and sent Ker'orin to get me? Were you going to be late?"

Her eyes narrowed as she looked up at him. She pushed forward the book and let her hand fall into her lap again.

" . . . Well? . . ."

He stared at it, eyes wide, then glanced back up at her.

"Shay, you don't understand—"

"Oh, I think I understand 'parasites' and 'vermin' pretty well!"

Tyrastan looked for a moment at a loss for words, then shook his head furiously, saying, "It must be some sort of practical joke they're playing! I would never write that about them! You know how much the Treaty means to all of us! They must have gotten a hold of it and written it."

Shay'Telnira let out a short bark of bitter laughter. "Tyr . . . no, _Tyrastan_ of the House of Glass, they could not have written it. The journal was written in Draconic, and they have only recently begun learning the language."

"Yeah!" agreed Melchiah, who held up a sign to Tyrastan that read, "U bee jerck!"

"Not to mention their spelling is atrocious," she added as she saw the sign. The other brothers chuckled at their youngest brother's sign, and Shay'Telnira stood slowly, anger radiating from her form.

"You should never have written that about these vampires, Tyrastan, and should certainly have never left it where one of us could find it."

He blinked in surprise, shocked into saying, "_That's_ what you're angry about?! I would have thought you were pissed because I had said some . . . rather rude comments about you, and I am terribly sorry, Shay, there is no way for me to make up for such statements—"

She held a hand up to stop him. "There is nothing you could say about me that would make me this angry. What made me furious was how you viewed and treated _my_ friends!"

Tyrastan choked. "You . . . would claim _friendship_ with these . . . _leeches_?!"

Shay'Telnira lashed out with a closed fist, slamming her gem-hard knuckles against his cheek. Tyrastan, not expecting the assault, landed on his rear, Shay'Telnira glaring down at him, flames beginning to lick across her wings.

"How I could have not seen through your act, you arrogant, egotistical, dim-witted and narrow minded _imbecile_, I will never know! But you had better pray to the Pillars that I DO NOT see you again!"

Tyrastan jumped to his feet and started to advance toward Shay'Telnira, but Raziel stepped between them. A new target to focus his anger on, Tyrastan hissed down at him.

"Get out of my way."

"No," Raziel responded calmly. In a swift movement faster than the eye could follow, Tyrastan backhanded the vampire, sending him stumbling back against Shay'Telnira, who in turned slammed back into the wall. The male dragon raced across the room and dove out the open window, translucent wings grabbing the air as he settled down on the ground. Immediately, the brothers jumped out of the window after him except Raziel who hastily brushed himself off and helped Shay'Telnira to her feet. He, in turn, dove out the window, and Shay'Telnira stayed close to him. The vampire quickly lost her as he slid in and out of the shadows as if he was one of them, and she traveled through the city, following her instinct more than anything else.

The brothers fanned through the city, hunting the dragon-male, working in a silent tandem that never existed in normal day-to-day affairs. Near the edge of the city, close to the gates that kept the dragons in and the creatures of the planet out, Raziel found Tyrastan. The dragon-male hissed as fiercely as any vampire might at seeing his rival, and glanced around for a weapon. The guards had been training out here the past few days, and they had left their dueling staves, believing them to be safe in these lands. Tyrastan kicked the end of one so it flipped up into his hand, and he looked up to see Raziel had retrieved one as well.

"So, little leech, it seems I'll be able to finish _you_ off, at least, and that will comfort me."

"You speak with such assurance that you will win," Raziel shot back disdainfully. "Yet all the things you have showed me about yourself would make even the worst cowards and thieves look like martyrs of virtue."

"Ah, your words pour from your silvered tongue like honey, _brat_, but while it may woo Shay, it will never work on me. Killing you will be the most rewarding thing I have ever done."

"You're life must be full of disappointments if killing me is the most rewarding thing, considering you will not be able to do it. But indulge me. Just what have I done to earn such ire?"

Tyrastan laughed bitterly. "I know what you want of Shay, what you feel for her, and she will always be mine. If that means destroying you to get her, _so be it._"

Before Raziel could even inquire as to what Tyrastan was babbling about, the male dragon swung the staff around and Raziel had to shove any thoughts into the back of his head but self-preservation. He exchanged blows with the dragon-male, but Tyrastan was quickly battering down the vampire's defenses. Tyrastan grinned cruelly down at the vampire as they stood, weapons slammed against one another, pressing against each other's strength.

"No human would ever be able to stand up to you, leech, but you must keep in mind: I'm not a human. And while you may be trained in the art of war, I am several centuries your elder, and we are trained from hatching to fight!"

Tyrastan smashed through the vampire's guard and sent him slamming into the nearby wall, leaving a crater around his body. Raziel shook his head, trying to brush off the dizzy spell that ran over his eyes, as Tyrastan walked toward him, chuckling malevolently.

Abruptly, something landed on his shoulders and began hitting him repeatedly over his head. Tyrastan hissed and threw his body around, dislodging the offending assailant. The being sailed through the air and slammed into one of the building walls, and to his surprise, began to cry. His eyes narrowed as he recognized the youngest of the brothers.

"Hey!" another voice called. Tyrastan's head whipped around to see the other brothers had emerged from the darkness, each holding a weapon. Dumah stood at the front, pointing at Tyrastan with his staff.

"Those are _our_ eldest and youngest brothers, and only _we_ can beat on them!"

Turel moved up next to his younger brother, magic beginning to crackle across his claws.

"You pick a fight with them, you pick a fight with all of us."

The dragon-male heard a sound behind him and glanced over his shoulder to see Raziel standing slowly, a very heartless smile on his face.

"Family, Tyr. That is why they can be better than us. They hold a better sense of family than we ever could."

Tyrastan looked up at the familiar voice as Shay'Telnira walked out of one of the alleys toward them. Her arms were crossed, and she glared at the errant House lord. She stooped and scooped up Melchiah whose crying smoothed out to sniffles in the dragon's arms. The vampires shifted and began to circle him slowly. Tyrastan realized he wouldn't see the end of the night if things continued unchanged. One or two of the brats he could take, but all six he knew he couldn't handle. He looked up at Shay'Telnira pleadingly.

"Shay, please, you can't let them kill me! There are too few of us as it is! And as the Empress' daughter, you're bound to help us, to keep all dragons safe!"

Shay'Telnira sighed and the brothers looked at her askance before she stated simply, "Yes, you're right. But I don't have to come to the rescue if I don't know there's a dragon in trouble, do I?"

Tyrastan's eyes widened. "Shay! No! Even you aren't that cruel!"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not. But you attacked one of the ambassadors of the vampires, and they demand their own justice, not one of ours. So what happens to you is beyond my control."

Melchiah dropped out of her arms, tears gone, a hungry look in his eyes, the young child gone to be replaced by the scheming malevolence of a vampire. Shay'Telnira turned and walked away, her fingers plugging her ears so she couldn't hear the battle taking place. In mere moments, the shuffling ceased and Shay'Telnira stood, waiting for the vampires to return.

Melchiah was the first to come back to her, and she quickly sat as he barely kept from toppling over, apparently very tired. She pulled the youngest into her lap and gently rubbed away a bit of blood still at the corner of his mouth. It took only a few minutes more before the other brothers came back. She smiled, recognizing the sleeping expression on all their faces. Dragon blood was thick with potent power and energy, and lulled a vampire into a dreamy, very contented state. Rahab and Zephon both settled down and used her legs as pillows. Dumah sat down behind her and propped up his back against hers, and Turel did the same at a more diagonal angle to give his more physically oriented brother more room. Raziel was the last to drop down next to her, and he leaned heavily against her shoulder, his head dropping against it. She slid an arm out and looped it gently over his shoulders and smiled down at her vamplings.

"Shay," a voice reproached. Shay'Telnira winced and looked up to meet the annoyed eyes of the Empress. Kain stood next to her, looking down at his children, then walked swiftly toward the fight scene to see the havoc they had caused. He returned after a moment as the Empress weighed her daughter with her eyes, and Kain's face was a blank as ever except for a single small, proud smile. His sons were beginning to excel in their training, it seemed.

The Empress finally sighed and broke her gaze of her daughter.

"His father will have to be told. We need to call a Council to discuss just what we're going to do, and how this is going to effect the Treaty."

Shay'Telnira's eyes widened at the thought of the Treaty being threatened, but her mother had already turned to Kain.

"Would you do something about your children, please? We can't leave them out here for the sun to find them, and I doubt Shay would like to serve as a pillow all night."

"I'm okay with it," Shay'Telnira broke in. Both adults glanced back at her, and she immediately shut up and looked back at Melchiah in her lap. She studied the faces of each of her vamplings in turn, smiling at them all.

Suddenly, she looked up and found Kain's yellow cat-slit eyes dangerously close to hers. She nearly jerked back in surprise, but remembered her charges and forced herself to sit still. A smirk tugged the corner of the vampire lord's lips.

"I am going to teleport my children and you back to your room. Do you understand?"

"Of course, my Lord," Shay'Telnira answered formally. Kain nodded once, concentrated a moment, then a white light that contained multicolored fragments surrounded her form and she, along with the vampires, vanished. Kain stood and met the Empress' gaze a moment.

"It was necessary."

"I know," she sighed. She turned to the shadows. "Why didn't you help?"

A soft chuckle came from the darkness. "I didn't need to. The vampires had it all covered themselves." Ker'orin stepped out where his Empress could see him.

"His father's not going to take this well," the Empress sighed, "so it would be wonderful if you could . . . perhaps find some way to make it easier for him? Make him see that it was for the better of us all that we found out."

"Yes, my Empress," Ker'orin bowed slightly before giving a flap of his wings and shot up into the air. Both rulers watched him go for a long moment before looking back at the other again. Kain held his arm out and the Empress chuckled as she took it. Magic surrounded the two as they returned back to the castle.


	10. Punishment

Woo. Okay, finally back in action again. Yeah, I know, I took longer than two months. *sighs and blushes* Well, if you want to know where my time's gone, I point to the college I'm going to now. Out of the house at 7 am, home not till 6 pm, gone every Sat, and every other Fri. ^^; So, needless to say, I'm still working out timings. However, on the plus side, I am writing again, so you can look forward to an update of Rose and Thorn sometime in the near future. *shakes head at self* I'm such a horrible slacker. You guys can laugh at me if you'd like. ^_^

            The rays of the sun rained down on the top of Dragon Mount, but most of the dragons were inside and all the House lords were carefully sequestered away into the Courthouse. In total, there were only about thirty dragons, seven Houses, and the Empress, Shay'Telnira and her Guardian. Considering that for each house there were about a total of fifty to seventy dragons, the huge Courtroom made it evident that the dragons were long passed their prime. Like the world, the dragon's health and numbers had suffered over the years.

            Shay'Telnira sat near the front and to the right side, the vampires sprawled in her lap in the case of Melchiah, around her feet, or in a chair next to her in the case of Raziel, Turel and Dumah. The Empress sat at the head of the room in her chair (a chair, surprisingly, no throne), Kain beside her. While the vampires had been allowed to attend, as they were involved in it, the general proceedings would be draconic. They could speak, but it would be frowned upon by the Court.

            Shay'Telnira looked over the assembled dragons as Melchiah sat up in her lap, glancing around curiously. The Lord of the House of Glass sat at the main table, as he was the one they were focusing on. That left six Houses sitting out there. She sighed deeply; once there had been thirty to fifty houses in this city alone, and there had been multiple cities. She recognized the House of Winds, House of Stars and House of Flora. Further to the back and left was the House of Fauna, House of Metal, and lastly the House of Fire. Flora and Fauna had taken the greatest hit in numbers recently, echoing the decline of the planet. Shay'Telnira didn't know how long until they had only five Houses.

            "Lord of the House of Glass," the Empress' voice rang out, "stand. You are being accused for your son's actions. Do you have anything to say in defense for yourself?"

            The Lord stood and cleared his throat so his voice could reach the rest of the House members.

            "It is true that I myself do not . . . approve of the vampires as allies, and my family has suffered for this belief. It was but a century ago that my House was exiled for dissenting opinions about the Treaty, but through perseverance and good will, we have returned to the city. Since then, should the Court recognize it, I have not once spoken out against the Treaty, but it seems the damage was already done. My child must have already developed some of my more . . . prejudice opinions of the world, and I had no knowledge it was there."

            It was obvious to the listeners that the Lord of the House of Glass still frowned on the vampires, and his apology for his son's behavior was more formality than truthful. Shay'Telnira frowned at this and the corners of the Empress' eyes tightened as she fought not to frown. The open insult in his tone reflected badly on both the royals. The people's behavior was a strong mark on how the ruler held her power, and such an insult toward an honored guest angered both Empress and daughter.

            "So you allege that you had nothing to do with your son's attempted assassination of a diplomat?"

            "That I do, my Empress."

            "Then if you would be so kind, Ker'orin," the Empress stated, turning away slightly toward the silver-haired man in the background. Ker'orin smiled and strode forward and held out a single green crystal.

            "What's that?" Melchiah asked Shay'Telnira quietly.

            "It's a memory crystal," she explained. "It copies things that happen in real life so you can watch it again later."

            "Sort of like one of those human's photographic devices?" Zephon asked from near her foot.

            "Like what?" she answered in confusion. He shook his head.

            "I'll explain later."

            Ker'orin activated the crystal and a large image opened of one of the rooms in the House of Glass. The Lord stood speaking to Tyrastan, telling him what were the main vampiric weaknesses and how to exploit them. There was a long moment of silence after the image ceased playing, then the Empress turned cold eyes on the Lord. He bowed his head under her glare.

            "Were the situation not as it is," the Empress stated calmly, "this would be a killing offense, but as there are too few of us as it is, you will be banished from the city, and this time, former Lord, there will be no returning for you. Do you have any last request or statement to make?"

            "Yes." He stepped forward and kneeled before the Empress. "I ask that my family not be punished for this. They had nothing to do with this. I will take the fall, as long as the House remains."

            The Empress weighed him with her eyes a long moment, then nodded once.

            "So be it. The family will be spared, and you will take the fall. Your banishment will be set for sunset this night. Finish any unattended business you have, then be at the gate a half an hour prior. We will all be expecting you."

            Half an hour slowly ticked, and a good portion of the dragons of the city stood near the gate, there to watch, to wish the House Lord good-luck, or to take a silent joy in his plight. Shay'Telnira stood near her mother, Ker'orin behind her, and the vampires waited calmly, arranged around her. The Lord met them all, quiet and subdued, and stood in front of the Empress. She clasped her hands before her.

            "By our laws and by our tears, you are hereby banished from the city of Tâlaeth. You are to travel into the lands below and from there you may settle down or move on as you see fit. If you ever return to the mountain, by my decree on this day, you will be killed on sight. Do you understand these terms?"

            "I understand, my Empress." The Lord bowed once before turning toward the gate. He fixed his eyes on the metal work resolutely and padded softly toward it, not once looking back. The gate slammed behind him and he kept going. The Empress sighed deeply.

            "And so we loose another of our kind."

            The Lord hesitated at the bottom of the mountain, looking around. It had been a long time since he had been out of the city, and he hadn't expected to ever be in this situation. The world had changed so much since he was.

            The was a sudden sound to his left that brought the dragon around sharply, his body slipping into a wary fighting stance. His eyes widened as he recognized the vampire's Emperor.

            "And what are you doing here?" the Lord demanded. A cruel smirk graced the vampire lord's features.

            "You have suffered your people's punishment," Kain chuckled dryly, stalking slowly around the Lord, "but you have nicely avoided the vampires'."

            "What do you mean?" the dragon eyed him warily.

            The vampire lord stopped before him, arms crossed over his chest.

            "You sent your son to kill one of mine. You have deliberately insulted and snubbed both your Empress and myself. She has passed her judgment on you. I have yet to pass mine. I don't like it when people try to kill my sons. They mean more to me than you could ever begin to comprehend."

            "And what do you hope to accomplish with this line of thought? Are you going to torture me? Try to put the fear of your dark gods in me? I have news for you, child. I have lost my home, my family, everything that is important to me. There is nothing left for you to try and scare."

            Kain smiled malevolently. "Oh, I have no intention of scaring you, dragon. You are in my territory now, and not protected by the Empress. I am simply going to kill you." As he spoke, the vampire's claws went for the large wave-bladed sword across his back, bringing it around in a deadly strike.

            "Shay'Telnira," the Empress stated from where she stood in her castle, "do you remember the weapon that we do not allow Kain to bring onto our city's grounds?"

            "Oh, the Soul Reaver?" Shay'Telnira answered, an eyebrow raised.

            "You must remember always, _never_ let him in this city with it. The blade is made of magics unlike ours, and it is intensely powerful. In Kain's hands, it is one of the most deadly things on this dying world. If Kain ever draws the blade in anger, pray you are not at the end of his wrath, because if you are, you are dead."

            Shay'Telnira swallowed, nodding. "I will remember that, my Empress."

            The youth quickly left the room and the Empress was left to stare into the darkness, a sad expression stealing across her features. The young girl was more like her mother then she knew. But unlike Shay'Telnira, who had deliberately turned her back on a dragon in need, the Empress had sent one to his demise. Contrary to what all said, there _was_ a difference between directly and indirectly killing someone. It was one of the weights that she prayed her daughter would never have to experience.


	11. Tours and Parties

(Author's Note: Yeah, I'm being slow and boring. I was planning to update all my stories all at once, but it's taking a lot longer than I planned on the TR/SR and the BO2/TR story, so I'm just going to send these three to you people so you'll have something to read. :-P)

* * *

Shay'Telnira was dreaming. She was dreaming of huge mountain spires, of strong winds, of thousands of her people in the air, multicolored scales glittering in the sunlight. The mountain range was vast, spreading across the face of Nosgoth, and on top of every peak was another city, shaped by magics old even to her race.

Then, suddenly, a dragon screamed and fell from the sky, dead before it hit the ground. As if it was a warning or a sign, the sound spread like wildfire, and dragons fell in mass numbers, some with wings tattered, others with scales melting off as if acid was eating them away. The ground rumbled and cities shattered and fell to pieces of stone. The sound came closer and closer to Shay'Telnira's city, other stone fortresses collapsing in its wake, the dragons above it dying in mass numbers.

Shay'Telnira sat up abruptly, tears in her eyes. Ker'orin hugged her gently, having come into the room moments before when he heard how restless she was. She turned and hid her face in his chest, tears falling from her eyes.

"Shh," Ker'orin cooed, holding her tightly. "Was it the dream again?"

"Yes," she sniffed. "It's coming, Ker'orin. I keep seeing it in my dreams. The same rumbling that represents what killed our kind in my dreams keeps getting closer to our city."

"Shush, little one, nothing's going to happen to this city."

Neither of them believed his assurances, though. Ker'orin knew his little dracling empress had disturbingly truthful dreams, as did all of her family, and Shay'Telnira was too gripped by the dream to be assured of anything at the moment.

"Orin, don't ever leave me," Shay'Telnira whispered suddenly, holding onto him fiercely. "Something bad is coming, and I don't know how our kind is going to deal with it."

Ker'orin looked down at her, meeting her gaze squarely. "How long until this something bad?"

"I don't know. It could be a while yet, still. It didn't feel too close. But it did feel like it was there and that what's going to lead to it is going to happen soon." She snuggled tighter against Ker'orin.

"You'll stay with me tonight, right?"

"Of course, Shay, of course." He slid down into the bed so Shay'Telnira could nuzzle up against him and sleep again. He spent the rest of the night stroking her hair and making sure she slept calmly.

* * *

Sunset found Shay'Telnira standing before the building aptly named the Sanctuary of the Clans. Ker'orin stood behind her, his gaze flipping over the designs across the doors. Shay'Telnira looked up at him.

"I guess we knock."

"I guess so."

Shay'Telnira's knuckles rapped on the metal door, causing the boom of her knocks to spread out into the air and hover for a few moments before fading away. They waited a moment before the door was opened.

"Oh, hello, Raz," Shay'Telnira greeted.

"Good evening," he answered, opening both doors to allow them in. "You're here earlier than we were expecting."

"Yeah, well," she shrugged, "since you guys invited me to come visit, I thought I should pop up early enough we could finish any and all tours you people were going to put me through."

"That, and the Empress was grateful to get rid of her for a while," Ker'orin chuckled from behind her.

"Orin!"

"I could understand why," Raziel answered, grinning maliciously.

"Hey!" Shay'Telnira crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You two are mean."

Both men looked at her like she had said the most obvious thing in the world. She blushed slightly in embarrassment and looked away.

"Isn't she cute?" Ker'orin cooed, petting her head.

"She is."

"You guys suck," she sniffled.

"No," Ker'orin corrected, "he sucks. I don't."

Raziel just laughed as he led the two dragons further into the Sanctuary. He stopped at the doors to the inner room to let the two appraise the work on them. After a moment, he pushed them apart and indicated toward the inside. Both dragons carefully walked into the cylindrical room, their eyes fastened to the broken remains that now framed a throne.

"The Pillars," Shay'Telnira breathed. Ker'orin bit his bottom lip to keep any expression of horror off his face. To see the Pillars broken like this was a dire avatar of the world's health. It took both a long minute to realize the throne was empty. Shay'Telnira looked over at Raziel.

"Where is Lord Kain?"

"He is leading an invasion into the human Cathedral to rid us of the last human resistance. He bid me to extend his greeting to your mother and to you. Other than that, my brethren and I invited you here since we've spent so much time at your home, we felt it was time to show you ours."

Shay'Telnira looked around. "Where are all the other boys?"

Ker'orin moved suddenly and intercepted a water balloon. He looked toward where it had come from to see Zephon waving with an evil smile.

"There's one," the Guardian grumbled. He still hadn't forgiven the brat for dying his hair with permanent dye.

"The rest are at their homes already. Zephon hasn't found a place he likes well enough yet, so he's going to be staying with us for the tour. We'll be starting with my home and moving on from there."

"Sounds good to me," Shay'Telnira answered.

"Oh joy and rapture," Ker'orin mumbled quietly behind her.

"What?" she looked back at him.

"Nothing."

Shay'Telnira spent the rest of the night going from domain to domain, visiting each of the brothers' territories. While all of them were still in construction, she could easily see how each would turn out. Raziel's had been full of towers that reached up as if they were trying to touch the sky. She recognized a lot of the architecture as being based off the dragon city itself. She had remarked as such to him, and he has simply shrugged and stated the style had made sense to him.

After that had been Melchiah's territory, as it was the closest to Raziel's. His home contained tall buildings with large, spacious rooms and ornately designed hallways, flowing a person from one place to the next. The final part of his abode was a large stone elevator made to go back and forth between three floors.

Beyond that was Rahab's sunken abbey. It was a quick tour, as Raziel didn't want to stay in the area for too long, and Shay'Telnira didn't feel inclined to make her guide uncomfortable. She did promise that she would come back later when Rahab was free to show her around the area on his own.

The four made a quick trip across the Lake of the Dead, and Shay'Telnira made an aside comment to Raziel, saying, "I'm honestly surprised we haven't heard a fight break out between Zephon and Ker'orin."

Raziel leaned back as he responded, "I don't think oven duty is a punishment Zephon's soon to forget."

"Oh. True. It's too horrible to forget."

"What's so bad about it?"

"You don't want to know," she answered surely. "You just don't want to know. Hell, I don't know, and I don't want to know. My mother doesn't know, and she doesn't want to know. Is that enough not wanting to know for you?"

"No."

He grinned at her as she sighed.

They paid a visit to Dumah's mountain city after that. More than any before, his city reminded her of a fortress. The insides were bustling as quickly as any army encampment would be. Shay'Telnira paid her greetings to Dumah and wished him well before the four continued on their way.

Once they had left the fortress, Raziel turned to her.

"Well, that leaves Turel's territory. I hate to have to do this, but I'd like to request the use of your wings."

Shay'Telnira cocked a head to the side, a confused expression on her face.

"Why?"

"Although Turel can sometimes be the most sociable of all of us, he likes to live as far away from people as he can. His stronghold lies in the heart of the mountains near the smokestacks. It's a pain to get to walking, though it should be reasonably easy with flight."

"I guess I can understand that." She turned to look at Ker'orin. "That of course means we're going to have to carry them, though. We can't exactly leave our guides here while we go."

"Hm." Ker'orin rubbed his chin a moment before a malevolent grin spread across his lips. "I'm okay with that." He smiled down at Zephon, whose eyes went wide. Shay'Telnira stared at Ker'orin a second before grabbing Zephon and turning to Raziel.

"I'm sorry, but I think I'm going to carry this one. I trust you with Ker'orin more than I trust Ker'orin with Zephon."

"Where's the love and trust, Shay?" Ker'orin asked, doing his best to look innocently hurt.

"Oh, the love's there, Orin," she answered, "and the trust is there, too, but only for my life. I don't trust you with anyone else's more than I can drop kick you."

Ker'orin thought about that an instant, and then stated, "Well, you know, Shay, if you were in dragon form, you probably could drop kick me quite far."

Shay'Telnira rolled her eyes. "It was a figure of speech, Orin."

He laughed and walked over to Raziel, offering to take a hold of him so they could fly to the mountains. The wind was cool and refreshing, a nice change for both dragons who had been walking all day. There had been a time hundreds of years ago where they had ruled the skies. Those days were long over, but it was still pleasant to be reminded every once in a while.

The rocky crags of the mountain loomed toward them, its outline framed by black smoke that poured from multiple mechanical devices beyond. Shay'Telnira resisted the urge to shudder at the sheer pollution that spewed out of the columns and merely bit her lip instead. She understood why the vampires employed the smoke stacks, but it certainly wasn't healthy for an already dying planet.

They touched down on an open balcony Raziel pointed out, and Turel emerged from the large chambers beyond, laughing about their way of cheating the almost required near-death trial to get to his home. He invited them on a tour and after asked if they'd like to stay for dinner. Both Ker'orin and Shay'Telnira politely declined, sighting they would have to return home soon. They returned to the Sanctuary in silence, the cavernous halls and tunnels on both dragons' minds. Their predecessors from long before had been burrowers, even before they had been fliers, and Turel had apparently discovered one of their long-abandoned homes. The essence of the place had felt wrong to both dragons in a sense so deep they would never be able to put words to it. They knew simply that they wished to be away from it.

At the Sanctuary of the Clans, Shay'Telnira looked down at Zephon.

"You really have no idea where you want your territory to be?"

"Not yet." He shook his head. "I plan to go look at the cathedral once Kain returns from it."

A sudden tug on Shay'Telnira's magical perception made her look up quickly toward the Pillars. Her gaze went to the Pillar of Time where she could feel a slight energy coming off it, like something of it was being drawn off it or used. It ceased a moment later, leaving her scratching her head.

"Are you all right, Shay?" Raziel inquired.

"Yeah, I think so."

"Ah, you are still here," Kain's voice came from the open double doors to the large room. The four looked up and both dragons immediately bowed. Both boys nodded respectfully to him. He focused his gaze on Zephon.

"The cathedral has been emptied now. You may go inspect it if you wish to."

"Thank you, Father."

As the Lord of Vampires spoke, Shay'Telnira's eyebrows knit together in confusion. She could sense the same power that had been emanating off the Pillar of Time falling off the vampire like a sort of exotic fragrance. She pondered asking, but decided it would be rude unless the question came up in natural conversation.

Kain turned back to the two dragons. "You'll have to excuse me, but I have some rather pressing matters to handle. Do extend my warmest greetings to the Empress. I shall be bringing up my children and coming to visit within the next week."

"Yes, my Lord," Shay'Telnira curtsied. Kain headed back out of the large room, Zephon following. Shay'Telnira turned to Raziel.

"Well, I guess that means we'll have to say our good-byes and head home. I doubt Zephon's ready for us to see his possible home."

"Do you honestly have to head back home?" the eldest asked. "It's still quite a few hours before sunrise, and I know you usually don't sleep until three or four hours after. Please, come back with me to my territory and join me for dinner."

She turned to glance back at Ker'orin. The Guardian shrugged.

"I don't see why not."

"Very well." She smiled at Raziel. "We'd be happy to, but after that we really do have to go."

The feast spiraled out around both dragons, and one of the most out-going and joyful parties either had been to before was thrown. Long before either Shay'Telnira or Ker'orin knew it, three days had come and gone, leaving both exhausted, but in immeasurably good moods. On the evening of what was quickly looking like it was going to become a forth night, Shay'Telnira found herself on her back, her head in Raziel's lap. The eldest was sitting at the edge of the main hall, his back propped up against a wall. There were nearly a hundred vampires in the hall, in varying states of drunken slumber, dancing, and conversing. Ker'orin was on the other side of the room, in the middle of telling some story of his exploits to a collection of both male and female vampires, and Shay'Telnira could see by the way he moved that he had long ago left the world of the sober. She'd have to yell at him when she wasn't quite so inebriated herself.

"You're mean," she told the vampire, trying to fight off the smile across her face. "We were supposed to have left… how long ago?"

"I'd say about four days ago," Raziel answered, a wicked grin on his face. "And you were free to go. I never forced you to stay."

"No, you just threw one hell of a party." Shay'Telnira shoved herself up slowly, keeping a hold of the vampire so she didn't fall back again. She waited till her vision stopped swimming and couldn't help the giggle that she let out as she turned to look at him.

"Remind me never to come to one of your dinner parties again."

"I'll be sure to conveniently forget you asked me to do that," he retorted, his smirk widening as he pulled her closer to hug her. She accepted the gesture and let her head drop onto his shoulder as she laughed. He moved his head slightly to look down at her.

"I'll have to try to keep in mind to get you drunk more often. You're quite adorable. It makes you look more than edible."

She pushed away from him, a throaty chuckle escaping her. "I am not edible."

"So you say."

She leaned back in close to his face and grinned. "So I say. And I'm the princess. So there."

"Pah, and I'm effectively a prince. You're point?"

"I'm the girl, therefore I win." She stuck her tongue out at him.

"Careful then, girl. Don't make any invitations you're not planning to follow through with." His smile had turned dark and secretive.

"Oh? And what would you do?"

"I just might bite that tongue of yours." He snapped his fangs together in emphasis. She stopped sticking her tongue out.

"But then you'd have cut my tongue and it'd hurt." She pouted at him.

"I promise I'll kiss it and make it better." His grin was evil.

"You're back to being mean again," she laughed and moved to push away from him. He caught hold of her and pulled her close to his face.

"I'm a vampire. What do you expect?" His voice was soft and deadly, matching the smile on his face.

"Nothing less," she breathed. There was a long moment of silence between the two as the noise from the background seemed to fade out. Shay'Telnira could almost feel the alcohol leaving her system under his serious gaze. Her hands, which had been on his chest when she had tried to move away, had been pulled forward when he brought her back close to him and were now lightly wrapped around him. She could feel the beginning of a blush rising into her cheeks and quickly let go.

"I should probably get going soon." She moved to stand, and Raziel didn't stop her. He simply pushed himself up as well.

"You know you don't have to go, right, Shay? You can stay here for as long as you want."

She smiled gently and nodded. "Thank you, but I do have to go home. I have things I have to do and Mother's going to be angry beyond belief about us having not even told her we'd be late."

"Oh, don't worry," Raziel responded, shaking his head. "I had a messenger take a note to her saying you'd be staying with me for a few days."

"Why you…" she trailed off, looking at him with an expression of amused surprise. He smiled and bowed.

"I am a host, too, Shay'Telnira, daughter of the Empress of dragons. I'm just not called to be it nearly as often as you are."

She chuckled. "Well, thank you for that, Raz. Now, I think I'm going to go extricate my Guardian from his story and we'll be out of your hair. I look forward to seeing you soon."

"And I, you." He stepped forward and kissed her cheek politely. "See you soon."

Shay'Telnira turned and collected up Ker'orin before heading out of Raziel's territory back toward home. Ker'orin slowly sobered on the trip, and the eldest watched them go until he could no longer see them. Once they were beyond his sight, he turned and began arranging for the clean up after the party.


End file.
